Online sales increase 12% in Q1 for Geeknet

First quarter online sales increased 12% for Geeknet Inc., parent company of online retailer ThinkGeek.com, but its loss widened.

For the first quarter ended March 31, Geeknet, No. 180 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 guide, reported:

Sales of $19.6 million, a 12.0% increase from $17.5 million in the first quarter of 2012.

A loss of $2.3 million, an increase from the Q1 2012 loss of $2.1 million.

Shipment of 328,000 orders, a 6.8% increase from 307,000 orders a year ago.

A conversion rate of 1.55%, compared with 1.66% in the same quarter a year ago.

Average order value of $60, a 5.3% increase from $57.

Mobile commerce sales also grew in the quarter to approximately $900,000, said Kathryn R. McCarthy, CEO and president, during a conference call with analysts about the retailer’s earnings. That’s almost double from a year ago, she said.

ThinkGeek.com mobile shoppers tend to use both tablets and smartphones, she said. “And our customers are very tech-savvy, so they're focused on both their phones and their tablet. So we want to provide that opportunity for them. Anyway they can come into the site, we want to be a great experience,” McCarthy said.